1 heavy snow, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Pendleton, OR wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 16, 8:00 PM PST, 1 hour 30 minutes earlier.
NORTHEAST OREGON/SOUTHEAST WASHINGTON FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENDLETON OR 800 PM PST SUN MAR 16 2003 THERE ARE STILL SOME LINGERING SHOWERS ASSOCIATED WITH A WEAK DISTURBANCE MOVING ACROSS NORTHEAST OREGON THIS EVENING. THESE SHOWERS SHOULD ONLY PRODUCE LIGHT AMOUNTS OF PRECIPITATION AND WILL DISSIPATE AS THE NIGHT PROGRESSES AND ALLOWS STABILIZATION OF THE ATMOSPHERE. THE FORECAST AREA WILL THEN BE IN BETWEEN MAJOR SYSTEMS ON MONDAY AND TUESDAY UNDER A WEAK DEVELOPING RIDGING PATTERN. HOWEVER COLD AIR ALOFT WILL KEEP THE ATMOSPHERE SOMEWHAT UNSTABLE STILL ON MONDAY. THEREFORE THERE MAY STILL BE A STRAY RAIN OR SNOW SHOWER OR TWO...MAINLY OVER THE MOUNTAINS. HOWEVER THE WEAK RIDGING PATTERN WILL KEEP MOST OF THE AREA DRY. THE NEXT WEATHER SYSTEM OF SIGNIFICANCE WILL NOT ARRIVE UNTIL WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND THURSDAY. NEW DATA SUGGESTS THAT THIS SYSTEM WILL HOLD TOGETHER AND BE WELL ORGANIZED. IN ADDITION THE ASSOCIATED COLD FRONT WILL BE PARALLEL WITH THE UPPER LEVEL WIND MAXIMUMS...THEREFORE ALLOWING A SLOWER MOVING FRONT RESULTING IN MORE PRECIPITATION. AT THIS TIME IT LOOKS THOUGH THE SNOW LEVELS WILL BE ABOVE MOST PASS LEVELS. SO AGAIN THE MAIN CONCERN WILL BE AREA RIVERS AND STREAMS...ESPECIALLY THE SMALLER STREAMS IN THE RUGGED MOUNTAIN TERRAIN WHICH ARE MORE LIKELY TO CAUSE MINOR FLOODING. THE RIVERS AND STREAMS ARE ALREADY HIGH DUE TO RECENT HEAVY RAINS AND SNOWMELT RUNOFF. AT THE CURRENT TIME THEY HAVE MOSTLY CRESTED ALREADY AND ARE NOW RECEDING AND WILL CONTINUE DURING THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS. ONE OR TWO MORE RIVER STATEMENTS WILL BE ISSUED TO COVER THE SITUATION AS WATER LEVELS ARE STILL NEAR BANKFULL IN MANY AREAS. PDT 3000 ALW 3000 PSC 2000 YKM 2000 .KPDT...NONE.
ORZ041>050-WAZ024>030-171315- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENDLETON OR 515 AM PST SUN MAR 16 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST OREGON AS WELL AS SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST WASHINGTON .DAY ONE...TODAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE IN SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT WILL BRING RAIN SHOWERS TO THE REGION THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. SNOW LEVELS WILL BE AROUND 5000 FEET TODAY AND TONIGHT. AS A RESULT...RIVER LEVELS WILL REMAIN STEADY TODAY DUE SNOW MELT RUNOFF AND RUNOFF FROM RAIN. HIGH WATER LEVELS WILL OCCUR THROUGH MONDAY ALONG THE UMATILLA RIVER...THE NACHES RIVER AND THE GRANDE RONDE RIVER NEAR AND DOWNSTREAM FROM TROY. SEE THE HYDROLOGIC STATEMENT IN PRODUCT PDXRVSPDT (WMO HEADER FGUS86 KPDT) FOR DETAILS ON THE AFOREMENTIONED RIVERS. ELSEWHERE NO RIVERS ARE EXPECTED TO REACH ABOVE THEIR BANKS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. AREA RIVERS WILL BE TRENDING DOWN AS THE REGION ENTERS A DRY SPELL. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES.
1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
An estimated seven to ten inches of snow fell in the city of Prairie City, where the majority of the snow fell before 2:00 AM. Areas immediately surrounding Prairie City lost power anywhere from two to 12 hours. There was no snow on the ground three miles west of Prairie City and in John Day.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Oregon in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in Oregon, March 2003
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5347894.